Iraqi security forces are using a hand-held device that has no power source to detect bombs and weapons. The US military refuses to use it as they say that in tests it has performed no better than chance. Oh, and the Iraq government has purchased about 1500 of them for about 60 thousand apiece.
For comparison, the kind of remote bomb detectors that are used in airports and the like weigh tons and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
For about the same price as one of these devices, you could get a handful of bomb-sniffing dogs, which are better than chance, but are substantially slower.
Surveillance cameras have shown people who went on to blow themselves up, passing through these detectors without any problems.
“It would be laughable,” Colonel Bidlack said, “except someone down the street from you is counting on this to keep bombs off the streets.”
